Helmut Marko believes a Red Bull pole position was on the cards during Saturday's qualifying session at the Baku City CIrcuit but said that it ultimately "didn't matter" as the track lends itself to easy overtaking. Sergio Perez lines up from second place, and Max Verstappen third, after the Red Bulls weren't able to carry out a slipstreaming plan due to a fuelling issue on Perez's RB18 that meant he was late joining the track. With the Ferrari F1-75 slightly stronger over a single lap, it was Charles Leclerc who came out on top of the qualifying battle. "The last run didn't go according to plan," Marko told Austria's ServusTV afterward. "That's why it all just didn't come together. Looking at the sector times, we could have conquered pole position here."
Marko not worried by missing out on pole
But, with the Baku City Circuit's lengthy straights seemingly playing to Red Bull's top speed advantage, Marko said that missing out on pole position isn't likely to have much of an effect on their race prowess. "It doesn't matter much because, in terms of race pace, we are strong and the starting places second and third are fine," he argued. "As long as we split the Ferraris. "If this had been Monaco we would have been disappointed, but we know we can catch up. We know what our race pace is and our two cars are about the same level." Marko's comments echo those of team boss Christian Horner, who said his squad have focused on race pace for the Grand Prix. "We're totally focused on Sunday, but I think there is always a trade-off that you're going to make between outright one-lap pace," Horner told ViaPlay . "I think Ferrari have had that in the last few races but I think our race pace has tended to be pretty good. "Checo's [Perez] on that Monaco wave of confidence and even without a tow he did a good lap there, and Max is right up there as well. I still think we can race well from that."
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